Association between movement synchrony and psychological pain in therapies with suicide attempters

Introduction: Psychological pain is a central risk factor for suicidal behaviour. Nonverbal synchrony between patients and therapists has been shown to facilitate the development of therapeutic alliance, which in turn is linked to symptom reduction. Building on these associations, the present study investigated whether movement synchrony in suicide-specific therapy exceeds random synchrony and whether it is associated with patients' psychological pain. Method: A sample of 95 video recordings from therapy sessions of the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) were analysed using Motion Energy Analysis to assess synchrony in head and upper body movements. Psychological pain was assessed using the Suicide Status Form II (SSF-II). Results: Genuine synchrony was significantly greater than pseudosynchrony t(110.16) = 4.314, p < .001, d = 0.49, 95% CI [0.005, 0.014], confirming the validity of the synchrony measurement. Additionally, movement synchrony was negatively correlated with psychological pain (r(84) = -.319, p = .003). This relationship remained significant after controlling for potential mediating factors (r(84) = -.302, p = .008). Conclusion: This study highlights the role of nonverbal synchrony in suicide-specific therapy, demonstrating that it exceeds random synchrony and is associated with lower levels of psychological pain.